Why Choose a Mac?

**Vitalka** · 08-13-2005, 12:20 AM

Originally Posted by mireland

oh, I wouldn't mind HAVING a mac..I just wouldn't BUY one...

Kind of pricey aren't they?
I don't want to go around naked.

I do think that Macs are great but they don't have as much software shoices as PC does. Plus I like gaming on my PC (games for Mac are really overpriced).

I can say all of those downsides that people said already, but there is no reason making you read it again.

Still I think that Macs are great piece of work!

**CrazyCrusher** · 08-13-2005, 02:31 AM

Get all my apps and games to work on a Mac, and I may think about it, if it was given to me, I wouldnt buy one, way over priced
sexier cases, <---I honestly I will say Not true at all sorry.

**CrazyCrusher** · 08-13-2005, 02:35 AM

srry wrong post

**millwork** · 08-13-2005, 10:30 AM

Hello MDLarson,

I hope my reply projected a positive admiration of Macs and their users.

The vast majority of computer users depend upon third party hardware and software. Those developers have all but ignored the superior potential of some very fine machines.

You and the other dedicated Mac users are the main reason they are around...Don't ever give up!

Yes, I would recommend a Mac for some users.

Apple needs to be "quicker on the trigger" though. Their competition is "mighty" with over 10 larger companies targeting them.

John B.

**nchan10111** · 08-13-2005, 06:12 PM

1) What YOU think of Apple today (I'm not interested in your high school experience with Mac OS 7.5.1, for instance).

reply: i think they great. I would buy one if they had the power to cost ratio down. And being able to play all the games i want is another factor. being able to download any program that come out would diffinity convert me. For now my pc is god.

2) Whether or not you would recommend Apple to a new computer user.

reply: I would recommend it to my family members dont know how to use a pc other then click on things. I would get it for my non computer literate friends and basically anyone that wants a pc to browse the web and listen to music.

3) Are there any unfair statements on the Apple Switch Page that you take issue with?

reply: All of it, all that stuff they gloating about is on the outside, they made no specifics or with any explainations or backup statements. Mac's are made for computer iliterate people. and that entire page says proves it.

**Newbie2** · 08-13-2005, 06:28 PM

I would prefer a PC over a Mac because there aren't many games for Macs. The majority of games are for PCs and software and games for Macs are very, very, very rare where I live. I'm happy I have a PC instead of a Mac. Linux can run on a PC and some versions of Linux can be downloaded for free off the Internet. But the downloads of free Linux are very, very big in file size so high speed Internet is needed to download free Linux. People with modem for Internet access should not download free Linux unless they can wait a few days. Even with high speed Internet it would take a very, very long time to download free Linux. The only software I know for Linux is the software included in Linux. Right now Windows is the most popular operating system.

**MDLarson** · 08-15-2005, 09:52 PM

Well, fair enough everybody. Thanks for the positive discussion, and fair critiques. I just heard that there's a new Windows virus going around, so make sure you're up-to-date and all that, and... we'll ya know... I'll be trading some positives for some negatives.

**cwin** · 08-15-2005, 10:25 PM

I like apple. My dad's getting one, since he'd suit one better than a Windows or Linux PC. He wants to do video and image editing, and some web use.

People have been saying that their windows PC "Just Works", but in my, and most people I know's experience, it just works for a little while, then a series of things go wrong when you tried to install a piece of hardware, and the system needs fixed.

Windows or linux (currently) are fine for the reasonably computer knowlegable, since anything that goes wrong is usually a simple fix if you know it, and most people who aren't particularly great with computers normally know a geeky neighbour or something that'll "fix their internet" when someone deletes the IE shortcut, but my experience of OSX is that most hardware will work out the box without any driver CDs, and will generally not have any weird problems and issues. And to be honest, my family don't like instructions. They plug something into the computer and sit there waiting for it to start working magically.

Linux just works without drivers or anything if it's set up for a desktop (except for X input related stuff.. which will change soon when they finish the hotplug stuff for it) until you find some hardware that there are no drivers for, and anyway, there's still quite a lot of putting-it-all-together work to be done, but it's not long away..

Just the other day I plugged a USB pen into windows and it installed the usb mass storage device drivers and demanded a reboot. I rebooted and my drive still wasn't in my computer.. turns out that taking it out and putting it in a different port caused it to try and install the drivers again and it worked after that, but still quite annoying, and probably would have confused my dad.

To be spyware proof you'd need to stop people being able to enjoy software they like using since there's no way an OS can determine the difference between genuine software and spyware

There are ways to determine. The easiest is to have a trusted repository where all applications are known as safe to run, are downloaded over ssl and the host and application is verified before execution. The other way is to sign each application (which i believe microsoft are trying to do with the SP2 stuff, but i believe there is a fee for it).

Also since in OSX you can run disk images without installing, and you never run as root, you can always create a new user if it ruins your account.

**RockNRoll** · 08-15-2005, 11:36 PM

That's kinda scary... The mac mini is as big as 3 portable CD players...

I love PC for it's upgradeability and all, but I must say that Mac mini does look interesting.

Just heard bout that virus a few minutes ago on the news lol. Ran the update. I'm all good.

**CrazyCrusher** · 08-15-2005, 11:45 PM

Im sure if a hacker wanted to riddle a mac they would and could, but why have the small apple when you can have the big one. and there is Virus's for macs along with spyware/malware, google it. the more populer they become the more they will become a tarket.

**MDLarson** · 08-15-2005, 11:51 PM

Originally Posted by CrazyCrusher

...but why have the small apple when you can have the big one.

Well, smaller is nicer than bigger if you don't need bigger. Plus, I actually plan on putting a Mac mini in my car sometime in the not-so-distant future.

**Someone Stupid** · 08-16-2005, 02:18 AM

Well the cost of owning a Mac could drop to the cost of building a cheap Wintel solution if Mac cannot lock down the OS. Already I've seen one guide on how to build a windows based Mac solution for 200 dollars - albeit it is frowned upon by Apple. It isn't a powerhouse and it is short an OS, but you'd be paying the same amount for the same windows solution minus the operating system. While it isn't a Mac in brand and such, it still runs the OS which is the only real point of switching over (pretty boxes don't justify price) for most of us since we can live without the added tech support and such provided from a real Mac platform - your average joe still would probably be better off with the customer support though.

200 dollar homemade Intel Mac (link shamelessly ripped from HardOCP) - minus OS

http://www.osx86project.org/index.ph...id=27&Itemid=2

**nchan10111** · 08-17-2005, 05:17 AM

There are Mac people and there are PC people

Just like apples and orange, except apples look shiny.

You would not compare an apple to a orange or say one fruit is better then the other, you would say "there both edible fruits"

I really don't see the point in saying which computer is better: mac or pc, all i can say is "There both computers"

**AllGamer** · 08-17-2005, 05:30 PM

Originally Posted by MDLarson

UNIX underpinnings
Beautiful OS
Zero viruses for OS X
Spyware-proof
Cheap head-less Mac (The Mac mini, of course)
Two-button mouse (FINALLY!!!)
Future platform on X86

.... Correction! 10 buttons Mouse!

**whoppingsteps** · 09-25-2005, 01:19 PM

If you're a gamer and don't want to wait for the titles to be ported to a Mac, then you need a Windows machine, or an Xbox.

2 button mice have worked on macs for years.

True, software is not as available in retail stores, but it is readily available online.

Hopefully Vista will copy most of what OS X can do now. This will push more innovation from Apple and make me like Windows better. Right now OS X is the reason to buy a Mac.

As for cost, the cost of maintaining a Mac in and educational or corporate environment is much less. The cost of ownership will end up being the same or less for a Mac.

example: We have new IBM desktops and new G5 towers. We purchased IBM 171p Think Vision monitors for both. We did system updates on both prior to attaching the monitors. Windows, on the IBM desktops, didn't have the 171p drivers, they needed to be installed off the CD. The G5 towers had the drivers allredy installed. This saved one minute per machine in setup. Might not seem like much, but in IT billing it adds up.

For the home user, When you buy a new mac you can connect it to an old mac by firewire and drag over all user, network settings etc., similar to Windows. The difference is you can also bring over all installed software and user documents. It is a one click process. It makes upgrading to a new machine a 1 1/2 hour process, rather than an all day process.

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